The King of Atlantis
by NadinLuciferHawk
Summary: In a desperate situation the Prince of Atlantis has to make a decision that changes everything: For his friends, his foes and even for himself... Yes, folks, this is a 'The prince of Atlantis' fanfic, because I loved that series when I was younger and am still obsessed over the prince (with slight changes from my side, though). Read and enjoy; rated T for safety.


**Author's Note****:**

The 1997/98 series 'The Prince of Atlantis' (original title: Le Prince d'Atlantis) was one of he first series I obsessed over. Enough to turn the main character, the Prince Akata himself, into one of my own characters. And even now, 16 years later, my obsession with Akata has not ceased.

This is why I went to write this little piece of fiction. It cost me over a year because of abortion of this project and constant re-writing, but I am pleased now with the outcome and upload it for your entertainment before I change it again XD

Have fun reading, and please review - I would be happy to know that someone shares my obsession.

**Rating: **

I'm not sure about the rating, but I was 7 or 8 when I watched 'Prince of Atlantis' for the first time. I'm not sure what to rate this piece of fiction, though, so I put it into the T category because of safety measures.

**Warnings:**

Beware the grammar mistakes. I don't seem to be able to kill them all .

* * *

With a start the young prince became aware of where his hopeless escape had led him. The forbidden district, the very area no Atlantean was allowed to enter. He himself even told Orkov – who was still a human after all - not to enter here.

But with his pursuers still hot on his heels, he had no big chance but to keep swimming. Luckily he discovered a small cavity in which he could hide for some time, to wait until the hunters from Eva lost him. But despite being confused for a while, the five hunters closed in on his position quickly. There was no escape.

Afraid the young prince pressed himself further into the cavity. How did it end like this?

Right.

It had been a nice day with Orkov, Dorothy, Djinn and Oya. And suddenly everything went wrong. Out of nowhere Eva and her men appeared and caught them completely off-guard. Before they could even prepare to defend the soldiers of the BIG Company had taken Dorothy and Djinn. Orkov jumped into the fray, transforming into his stronger fishman form and bought precious minutes for the Atlanteans to escape before he too was overwhelmed. And when Akata turned back over his shoulder Oya was gone as well.

Now he was all alone and being hunted by at least five hunters equipped with Black Beam weapons. Enough to overpower the young prince and crush any resistance.

"Shitshitshit" Akata cursed, "If dad was here, he would know what to do with those guys!"

"_**Ah, but your father is not here"**_ Startled Akata whirled around, but there was nobody. _**"He was not here for many, many years."**_

This voice… it was unfamiliar, and scaring. A chorus of a myriad of tortured female voices. Alone listening to that voice made him dizzy and his head hurting. But even so he could still see the humans closing in on him, looking around to find the little Atlantean.

"Who are you?" Akata asked quietly, hoping to evade the hunter's eyes for some more minutes.

The voice seemed to chuckle, increasing his headache even more. _**"Who I am little Atlantean?"**_it seemed to ask amused; _**"I am the very creature that your people have imprisoned thousands of years ago. The demon that threatened to destroy the surface dwellers"**_Akata paled notable as he recognized it; a story he had been told many, _many_ years ago and of which he thought was only to scare children. But when the voice told him its name, his fears were proven right: _**"I am the Helldemon ruling over the Water. My Name is Zunique."**_

"Zunique?" Akata felt his heart drop. "Why do you talk to me?"

The demon was silent for a while. But then it spoke again: _**"I sensed your despair. You need me to rescue yourself and your little mortal friends."**_

"How… how do you know that?"

"_**I have ears and eyes everywhere, my little friend" **_Zunique chuckled darkly**, **_**"I know of your history with those humans."**_

With a wary eye the Atlantean prince watched the hunters. They were still coming closer.

"_**Those humans over **_**there**_** will hunt you down until they get you. Why don't you turn the tables and hunt them down?"**_

"Hunt them down? I… I don't have enough strength… my Blue Beam is not powerful enough to take them on… or to take anyone from Eva on…"

By now the demon was laughing loudly, forcing Akata to cover his strange ears, but it did not help. The voice was inside his head, not coming from the outside: _**"Like I said, you need me! I will grant you immense strength and huge powers if you agree!"**_

Immense strength and huge powers sounded damn good in his current situation. Carefully he checked on the hunters again, almost yelping when he noticed how close they were.

"What would happen if I join Zunique?" he thought, "Would it change really something?"

"_**Oh please, just trust me in that matter"**_ the demon answered bored. Obviously it could also read minds.

Thinking quickly the young prince asked: "Nobody just gives others power. What do you want in exchange?"

"_**You, of course"**_ the demon answered chuckling, _**"I need a servant, someone I can trust to free me from this prison I have been thrown in by your ancestors."**_

Akata could almost feel the demon's amused eyes glaring into his back, but of course, there was nobody there. Only the currents coming from the humans' diving equipment reached his sensible skin. "Servant…?" His heart sunk again, the thoughts raced through his head like a startled swarm of sardines, "I would serve you?"

"_**Until I say otherwise…"**_ the demon sneered, _**"Of course, I would also change your body to suit my ideas of a servant, also your people would most probably cast you out for joining me…"**_

Saddened Akata finished: "…but they were not here for centuries"

"_**They have forgotten you"**_ Zunique whispered into his ear, sending chills down his spine**,**_** "And even if they should wondrously come here… you have all rights to defy them, my child."**_

"There! Over there!" one hunter yelled, attracting the other's attention on the little prince.

"Orkov, Dorothy, Djin, Oya…" Akata thought a last time, "They are right now in direct danger… who knows if father ever comes here again… Orkov is my family right now; and he needs my help."

Narrowing his eyes he lifted his chin to glare directly at the five hunters. They stopped dead in confusion; never before had they seen this look from the Atlantean Prince. "Very well…" Akata murmured, "I will join you, Zunique… Give me power to free my friends!"

The demon laughed again, but this time it did not hurt him in any way: _**"Very well, Prince of Atlantis! I will give you powers beyond your imagination and make you a King! But in return, you are mine forever!"**_

A painful sensation tingled through his whole body, like an electric discharge. It was agony in its purest form, but he forced himself not to scream out. Instead he succumbed to the demon and gave himself to Zunique.

"What the…" one of the hunters cried out in fear.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!"

The five hunters stumbled back in terror. The currents picked up and forced them back. It was as if the sea itself was quaking.

"_**I gave you power. Go and free your friends… but in return you will free me once the time is right."**_

"Oh my God!"

"_**Crush them!"**_

A loud roar echoed through the darkness of the sea, a roar from no creature that lived on earth. And it was accompanied by the terrified screams of the hunters.

-oo0oo-

"Lost?!" Eva Metal roared out at her subordinates, "What do you mean with 'you lost contact to the hunting party'?!"

Yelping the man shrank back in his chair and stammered: "That means we have no contact to them anymore!"

"How can that be?" Eva snarled again, "They were hunting _one little boy_ with magical powers?! _How can you lose them_?!"

"I have no idea, I swear!"

"Perhaps that little prince chose to attack them after all?" Matt Metal, her older brother, spoke up. Eva whirled around to glare at him.

"He is a scared child, and the Black Beam shields should protect them against his Blue Beam!"

Glaring back at his sister Matt grumbled: "There's no saying what a scared child can do"

"He's still a _child_!" Eva fumed, "A child should not…"

Suddenly the whole complex quaked once. It was as if something had hit the old oil rig on which they were with overwhelming force.

"What was…?" Matt asked bewildered. Suddenly there was another hit, and another, and another. Then, after a few more bangs the whole complex tilted to one side. Eva's eyes widened in realisation: "DAMN! The legs! Something is hitting the legs!"

"Get a team down there ASAP!" Matt shouted over the racket. The oil rig groaned like an injured animal and tilted more to one side. One of the massive steel grid legs of the oil rig was damaged and close to breaking.

"Dispatch a team _now_!" Matt shouted again, "Find out what is going on down there! And if it's that puny princey…" his eyes narrowed and he hissed: "_Dispatch_ of him!"

His sister sobered up as well: "We should get the captives away from here and onto dry land! And then see that we get out of here as well!"

"Right. Everyone else: Abandon base!"

-o0o-

Orkov stalked anxiously from one side of the cell to the other. Dorothy and Djinn watched him, every line of their bodies was tense. Ever since the whole building started to tilt, their initial anxiety had returned stronger than ever.

"Do you think…?" Dorothy asked quietly. Orkov stopped and looked to his colleague.

"I pray you are wrong" he finally muttered, "I hope Akata managed to escape… and that he stays away from here." He returned to pacing, brows furrowed deeply in thought. What had happened anyways?

It all started out as such a nice day. Eva and her men had not tried anything funny for over two months, and Orkov had begun to hope that she finally gave up. And today morning she returned. Three massive submarines had appeared out of nowhere, and before Orkov could react, her soldiers had taken Djin and Dorothy captive. Desperate he had jumped into the sea, turned into his stronger fishman form and attacked to at least allow his Atlantean friends to escape. He managed to, but just in the nick of time. When he was finally taken captive those bastards blew up his beloved yacht.

Then there was the sharp screaming of a key being turned and Orkov turned towards the door. There were Eva and her brother Matt, as well as the Bazooka brothers and a few other soldiers of the BIG Company. One of them carried Oya in what looked like a high-tech fishbowl. So they managed to catch her, too. But what was about Akata?

"Grab them. We are leaving" Eva barked. That confused Orkov and his crew a lot. Leaving?

"What are you planning, Eva?" Dorothy asked bewildered when two large men grabbed her and forced her, Orkov and Djin outside. It was pointless to struggle, so they simply stumbled along.

'Stumbling' was the right word since the BIG soldiers were in a hurry and the whole complex had tilted to one side from the relentless smashing of whatever was there.

"Eva!" Orkov yelled when the butt of a gun was smashed into his back again. "What are you planning?!"

Eva did not stop but glared darkly over her shoulder. However, before she could even open her mouth her walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"_Miss Metal! Miss Metal!"_ a voice cried. _"It's…"_ Suddenly there was a loud crash and the radio hissed shortly before the voice was back: _"SHIT!"_

"What is the meaning of this?" Eva shouted. Matt, Orkov and everyone else had stopped and looked bewildered at their red-haired leader. "Talk to me, Damnit!"

"_Fuck! I have no idea!"_ Another crash, more cursing and screaming and… roaring? _"DAMN! It has to be that little brat's doing but…"_ Another crush and roar, this time louder than before, _"BUT I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE HELL THAT IS!"_

Then there was a scream, a bang and the radio died. Only static remained.

"TALK TO ME! SHIT! TALK!" Eva shouted, more panicked than anything else. Eventually she opened another channel and yelled: "Anyone still there? Stop whatever that is and abandon base as soon as…!"

Another crash accompanied by the groaning of metal made everyone jump.

"Quick!" Matt shouted, "We have to get out of here!"

-o0o-

The group ran down the long, winding hallways. Some were driven by sheer terror, others were pushed reluctantly forwards. Soon they saw a T-crossing in front of them.

"The hangar's left!" someone shouted. Orkov was too distracted trying not to stumble over his feet to care who said it.

Only then everyone stopped dead in their tracks and Orkov slammed into the broad back of the younger albeit larger of the Bazooka brothers. Immediately his guards tore him backwards and Orkov groaned, trying to shake off the dizziness by concentrating on why everyone stopped.

Then he saw why.

Another soldier wearing protective garments and carrying a high-tech Black Beam Gun (or BFG as Dorothy called them) came flying down the path from the hangar. The yelp and grunt echoing from around the corner told Orkov that at least one of his colleagues was already there, in a similar situation.

Screams and the sounds of explosions reached their ears and again this roaring. However, the noises soon died away, being replaced with pathetic whimpering and a bestial, deep rumbling growling, accompanied by heavy thudding, like… like steps.

Without even noting it everyone of the group held their breaths. There were more steps, and they were coming closer. Only now did Orkov note a small clicking noise following the heavy steps. Claws?

After what seemed an eternity the source of the thumps finally came around the corner and everyone froze, staring in disbelieve and fear.

There stood … _something_ they had never seen before. From what Orkov could see he guessed that the creature's height was about eight feet, but it was hard to say since it was hunched over, glaring growling into the direction of the thrown-away soldiers. Huge, five-inch long, black, curved claws were dug into the wall besides it, to support itself against the tilting of the oil rig.

It had an almost human body and face, male it seemed, with a tail not unlike a moray eel or sea serpent, but the massive muscles bulging underneath the shark-like skin were everything but humanoid. No human frame could support this amount of musculature. Every ounce of the beast screamed of power and strength. Orkov assumed that it must've weighted at the very least 500 pounds.

Nevertheless it seemed human enough, with a straight nose, broad chin, two eyes and a mouth. Only it had blue fins for ears, a pair of short horns and massive meat-scissor like teeth. It also had two strong arms with five webbed fingers, a strong, male body (no visible genitalia, though, now that would have been awkward) and long legs. The feet were interesting, as they had only four toes which ended in claws (which explained the clicking sound from earlier). The fifth one was short and carried a very large, sickle-like claw akin to a raptor dinosaur. A blue dorsal fin ran over its back all the way from the base of the thick neck down to the tip of the tail. More fins were on its lower arms and calves, and spanning like a cape between the upper arms and ribs. There were a total of seven gill slits on either side of its neck.

Now the creature finally took notice of the other humans and turned abruptly towards them, sending long yellow dreadlocks flailing, while straightening its back so it stood in its full size, horn tips digging into the ceiling. Only now Orkov could take in the whole beast. It had a quite unique colorization consisting of a beige front, black back and blue gloves and boots. The transition between the colours consisted of a series of irregular spots and blotches, similar to certain fish or sea leopards. Even the face was kept in black and beige, with a black nose bridge, forehead and a black triangle underneath each eye.

The human face contorted into a growling grimace when the creature began snarling again. The sound it produced was too deep to be from any natural creature, it sounded more like the groaning of a glacier shortly before it broke apart. Orkov noted dully some of the yellow dreadlocks starting to twist and move like an octopus' legs. Those were no hairs – they were tentacles!

But Orkov did not fully realise this little detail. He was captivated by the creature's golden eyes with black sclera and slit pupils. For a short moment he thought he saw something like realisation and… remorse? But these emotions quickly disappeared beneath fury and bloodlust and madness.

The beast before them gave a short, albeit loud and gruff roar that shook the walls, making everyone step back – even the otherwise so fearless leaders of the bunch. Orkov felt the hairs on his arms stand and a cold chill running down his back.

Whatever this beast was, it was clearly an embodiment of sheer power.

And it seemed familiar, even just a little.

But that could not be! Orkov felt a huge knot in his stomach when he realised why it looked so familiar.

But… no! There was no way in the seven hells that it could be true!

And then again… he had already experienced stranger things in this last year with the Atlantean Prince…

The Prince… Akata… Could it be…?

Before he even knew Orkov whispered in utter disbelieve: "A…Akata?"

-o0o-

Orkov was running. He, Dorothy and Djinn ran through the hallways while carrying Oya in her glass prison. They were heading towards the hangar bay.

Everywhere they passed they saw the same picture: Unconscious and injured BIG soldiers, destroyed equipment of all forms and sizes and torn steel walls and doors. Whatever had happened to their friend, it turned him into a real living monster, unstoppable and seemingly invincible with superhuman strength.

After what seemed an eternity the beast Orkov addressed as Akata had stopped his silent staring and attacked. He had easily knocked both Bazooka brothers away with a violent backhand swing. Afterwards things got fuzzy, but Orkov still managed to grab onto Oya's prison and run with his friends away from that place.

Finally they passed the last door to the hangar and stopped once again. Here it was even worse than outside. The whole room was trashed, all submarine vehicles were turned to wrecks, no battle exo-suit was still in one piece and the ground was torn open in one place, most likely where Akata had entered the complex. Since the oil rig was tilting badly half the room was already flooded.

"Let's get out of here" Orkov said then, "Over there are the lockers for the diving equipment."

Luckily they found two undamaged oxygen bottles and a few diving masks. Orkov wouldn't need one, so he watched while Dorothy and Djinn prepared for diving. While they did that the boy suddenly paused and looked up to Orkov: "Orkov? What happened to Akata?"

Orkov sighed deeply: "I have no idea. But as soon as we're in safety we're going to ask him. First we need to get out of here."

Only moments later the three jumped into the gaping torn hole. Orkov changed to his Atlantean shape and the other two held onto his shoulders, since Orkov could swim faster then they did.

Quickly they felt the currents of the water. The oil rig started to groan menacingly.

"Orkov!" Dorothy yelled, "The rig is sinking!"

"I know!" her colleague answered. As fast as he could he propelled himself through the water – not one second too early. Only minutes later they stopped in the water and watched the old oil rig twisting and turning like an injured animal. Something broke out of one side and crushed right through another of the legs, tearing it apart and sending the whole thing into its watery grave. The four watched in silence, but despite the ascending emergency pods nothing came back up.

So they turned their backs to it and swam away from here.

-oo0oo-

"…_several injured were sent to hospital on the main land, luckily no deceased were reported. Authorities are still seeking the reason why the oil rig 'Coast Star', lastly used as an outpost for the BIG Company, sank so rapidly. There are no reports about damage to the environment yet, but the authorities are careful. According to…"_

The old man switched the small TV off, grabbed the tea kettle and headed outside. He had guests on his small cutter.

"Thanks again" Orkov said politely and wrapped himself tighter into the blanket. Next to him Dorothy accepted the cup with shaking hands while Djinn looked out to the sea.

His grandfather sat down on a worn stool, looked at his grandson and his friends and finally asked: "What has happened?"

Djinn looked up at his gramps and asked quietly: "Everything?"

The old man raised his eyebrows, looked over the side of his ship where Oya was drifting in the water, then to Orkov – who had just turned from an Orca-man-shape back into his normal blonde one – and then back to his grandson. He nodded and confirmed: "Everything."

"Okay. But that is going to be a long story."

"I'm a retiree, Djinn" his grandfather smiled wryly, "I've got all the time I want."

And so Djinn started to tell his grandfather everything. Orkov and Dorothy butted in from time to time to give more accurate information, and even Oya joined the conversation. When they were finished the old man understood pretty much everything that had happened over the course of the last year.

Except for one thing: "And what did you say happened to your Atlantean friend today?"

At this the three fell silent and looked blankly at each other.

"Honestly?" Orkov finally asked, "I have absolutely no idea" He stared gloomily into the now cold cup of tea in his hands. "Akata will shed some light on that matter once he comes back. I am sure about this."

But Akata did not come back that night. Neither did he the next day, or the day after. While his friends turned from anxious to worried to puzzled, the prince stayed lost.

-oo0oo-

Days had turned into weeks, then to months and ultimately years. They never even saw a glimpse of their Atlantean friend. Life went on without him.

Orkov became an internationally known oceanaut, married his long-time assistant Dorothy and had three children with her. His new assistant was Djinn, and he did a very good job – may it as oceanaut as well, submarine rider or simply as baby sitter. Oya was the fourth member of their team, and she was the one to provide the most necessary information.

Nobody ever found out how Orkov and his team managed to get their unique information about the sea life, since they kept Atlantis and its inhabitants a secret. Neither did anybody find out how the heck Orkov managed to swim and dive that long.

The BIG Company eventually went under in a financial crash, their image having suffered irrecoverable damage and was liquidated, the single branches being bought by other companies like DEEPGROUND, STARK Industries and UMBRELLA Corp. The younger Bazooka brother eventually opened up a small restaurant on Djinn's home island and became very popular, while his brother became a member of a crime organisation and adopted the code name L'Etranger. Eva herself went to DEEPGROUND, becoming 'Rosso the Crimson' and turning into an internationally wanted assassin. Nobody knows whatever happened to Eva's brother or the Big Five, but there were suspicions that WEYLAND-YUTANI had something to do with them.

But even with all these changes, one thing always remained: The hope of Orkov and his friends to see the little Prince of Atlantis once again.

Now, over ten years after his sudden disappearance, he was just as suddenly back as he went away.

Orkov was just diving in a coral reef and filed some new species of annelids (really exciting, he thought and suppressed a yawn) when a massive shadow was cast over him.

He sighed, put away his clipboard and said: "Sorry, Mr. Shark, but I really don't have time to play with you."

A deep rumbling sound reached him and it took the oceanaut some time to recognise it as chuckling. "Is that the way someone greets an old friend, Orkov?"

The voice was very deep, rumbling like thunder, unknown to him… and yet the playful tone was very familiar. Orkov whirled around and stared right into two amused golden pools.

"A…Akata?" he stuttered in surprise. "Is… is that really you?"

The Atlantean smirked. "Truly. It is me, Orkov" He turned his gaze away for a moment, hurt clearly evident in his golden eyes. "Please forgive me for not coming back sooner, but I had very important matters to attend to – including controlling this new body of mine."

"It's okay" Orkov said after an awkward silence. He felt a huge smile coming to his face. "Just look at you! You are _huge_! I mean, I couldn't even get my arms around your midriff, and I am a pretty big guy!"

Indeed, now that he was so close to his formerly small friend he could not help but stare in awe and – a little bit – intimidation. Akata was much larger than he had remembered – much larger than himself in any case. The sheer bulk of his body alone was enough to keep most predators of the sea at bay and intimidate pretty much everything and everyone.

But his eyes were not that mad golden yellow he had back on the oil rig ten years ago. They were his normal gentle gold once again, with the same glint of playfulness he had come to love on the boy.

Putting his hand onto the massive shoulder Orkov noticed the roughness of the shark-skin underneath his fingers, but shook it off and said: "Come, you are eagerly awaited. Oya was worried sick for the first few weeks."

The Atlantean cocked his head. "Should I not explain to you my absence first?"

"Nah" Orkov said, "You can tell us our your story when the others are present. Let's go to my ship, they'll await my return."

Akata nodded and they started to swim back. On the way Orkov turned his head and asked: "Well… is this only a visit or are you going to stay?"

The Atlantean smirked, revealing sharp white teeth. "Apart from running some small errands I have no reason to not stay here."

And Orkov grinned over his whole face. "That's awesome. There's much you'd have to catch up with."

But whatever would come next was not of importance. His friend was back, and that was all that mattered.


End file.
